eXo Opens Up Social Web for SMBs with New Software Subscription

For a flat, per-user fee, SMBs and small project teams can start building social intranets and websites with eXo Platform 3.0

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28, 2011 — eXo, a provider of Java user experience and portal technologies, today introduced a new software subscription designed to get small and midsized businesses (SMBs) started using eXo Platform 3.0 to quickly build social intranets and websites, complete with social capabilities such as activity streams, questions and forums. The SMB Subscription includes professional support, documentation and a guaranteed service level agreements (SLA) — the same type of support expected of enterprise software but at a much more SMB-friendly, per-user price.

News Highlights

In 2011, enterprise social software revenue is expected to increase by about 15 percent, a similar growth rate to last year. Most enterprises are investing in a mix of social software from multiple vendors that often requires time-consuming and costly integration. For SMBs, this extra integration step is a dealbreaker.

eXo Platform 3.0 is an integrated user experience platform for creating websites and applications with rich features such as collaboration, social and knowledge sharing. It is built on the GateIn portal framework co-developed by eXo and Red Hat, and offers enterprise features such as access control, single-sign on (SSO) for security and LDAP integration — but all at an affordable, per-user price with the new SMB Subscription.

While designed initially to meet the surge in interest from SMBs in eXo Platform 3.0, the new subscription can also be used by smaller teams within large enterprises. Traditional per server/core licensing for software has been a challenge for SMBs, whose IT budgets are much more limited not only in actual dollars but in IT support. Small project teams, on the other hand, typically have to go through many internal channels for approval on any software acquisition.

SMB Subscriptions require a minimum of 20 users to start, and provide access to eXo Platform 3.0 in an Apache Tomcat package. Clustering is not included. For as little as $14/user/month charged in a flat annual fee, SMBs can get started immediately.

Supporting Quote

Benjamin Mestrallet, CEO of eXo: “While a best-of-breed approach to social software may be appealing to larger companies with the IT budget and know-how, an integrated offering greatly simplifies deployment for smaller projects. For this key reason, we’ve had overwhelming interest from SMBs in using eXo Platform 3.0, which offers website building, content management and social networking features in one. We’re proud to be able to meet the needs of SMBs without sacrificing on capabilities.”